The rookie minister unveiled next year's public schools operating grants Thursday, providing a two per cent increase of $24.4 million.

Allum repeatedly insisted he's given school boards the money to provide the best-quality education, and he'll work with them to concentrate existing resources in the classroom without raising property taxes.

The first place to look, he said, is administration costs.

'It's a well-financed system. I do believe there are sufficient resources within the existing system to fund what we want to see happen. What we're suggesting is they do have sufficient resources' -- Education Minister James Allum

Manitoba School Boards Association president Floyd Martens was skeptical.

"At this point, I don't know what the full impact is going to be. To look at no tax increase for all school divisions, that would be hard to achieve," said Martens, from Dauphin-based Mountain View School Division.

It's especially tough when 18 of the 37 school divisions will get zero increase under the provincial funding formula, Martens said.

Thursday's increase maintains the NDP's record of increasing its share of public funding by at least the rate of provincial growth.

Allum said the new money will be poured into improving basic math, reading and science skills, and boosting high school skills training and career development.

"There will be a fund -- more (details) to come in the future," he said, noting the fund will come from the $24.4 million. "We really want to drive the quality agenda -- to focus on career development, focus on skills-training. That's what we want the school divisions to focus on," said Allum.

Allum's funding announcement was probably the tersest since the NDP took office in 1999 -- few details, a lack of specific new programs and concentrated new money rather than a long list of projects.

Allum said in an interview there will again be a zero guarantee this year -- no division will receive less money than a year ago, but 18 of the 37 will not receive a penny more than last year.

"It's 18, and four out of six in Winnipeg," he said. Allum said Winnipeg and Seven Oaks school divisions will get more money.

The province has capped administration costs for close to a decade at four per cent urban, 4.5 per cent rural, and five per cent in the north, but those were guidelines he's now made law, Allum said.

"This is just a first step in those administration caps. We'll review them every year," he warned.

The minister said some divisions are spending beyond the maximum on administration, but could not immediately provide a list or say how much money they're overspending -- money he wants to see in the classroom.

Among the things Allum will not do: He won't cap or freeze property tax increases, he won't impose amalgamation of school divisions, he won't change the provincial moratorium on closing schools without community consensus, he won't get involved in teacher contract bargaining and won't tell school boards how many teachers they should employ or how much they should pay their teachers.

"It's a well-financed system" was Allum's mantra Thursday. "I do believe there are sufficient resources within the existing system to fund what we want to see happen. What we're suggesting is they do have sufficient resources."

Allum said divisions can form partnerships to share resources. "In every partnership, you're achieving economies of scale," he said.

Manitoba Teachers' Society president Paul Olson cautioned he wouldn't want to see partnerships involve businesses looking to make a profit out of public education.

He was happy the province found even two per cent. "Given the economic context, something standard is commendable," Olson said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

What do you think of James Allum’s challenge to school trustees? Join the conversation in the comments below.

You might ask

Why might an increase in provincial operating grants of $24.4 million and two per cent not be good news for school trustees?

Because the province only pays a share of funding the $2.1-billion public school system -- the rest comes from school property taxes levied by school boards.

How much will that be?

In recent years, the province has covered about one-third of the annual increase in operating costs. Last year, that overall increase was $71.7 million, the general range in the past few years. Trustees can find the difference in school property taxes or they can reduce jobs, programs and services. Or, as Education Minister James Allum said Thursday, they can find it in existing spending outside the classroom.

What's the elephant in the room?

Every contract with teachers expires June 30. It's anyone's guess how much teachers will be paid in their new deals, when the first new deal will be reached or if it will end up in arbitration after lengthy bargaining. But school boards will have to set money aside in their budgets barely six weeks from now to cover off their best guess at retroactive pay increases.

Is there anything draconian in Thursday's announcement?

No -- the province will not cap or freeze education property taxes, and it will not get involved in teacher contract bargaining.

So that two per cent from the education minister will go to my school board?

Maybe. Probably something more or less. Half the school divisions, 18 out of 37, get no increase in their operating grants over last year. There are dozens of categories within the provincial funding formula that determine how much your division gets, and both enrolment and the assessed value of properties within your division play a major factor. Last year, 16 of 37 divisions did not qualify for any increase while some received far more than the average. It may be several days of number crunching before your trustees know how much they'll get in new money, if any.

So, my taxes: Tell me what they'll be...

You won't know until close to March 15, the deadline for school boards to submit their mill rates.

History

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments.
All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.